Customer Reviews

Aube by Honeywell TI033/U 7-Day Programmable Timer Switch, White

5 star:		(87)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

As far as I know, there is nothing even close to this on the market.

I have had a few of these for many years. None have ever failed. Setup is straightforward and programming is reasonable.

Having the lights automatically adjust for sunrise/sunset is great. If we leave the house at 4pm and come back at 9pm, the front lights are on.

There is a little bug in the programming (TI034). It screws up if it is programmed to turn on before midnight and turn off after midnight. I forget now how it screws up, because I changed mine to turn off just before midnight. I think it just stayed on.

I would like more flexible programming, but that usually comes with complexity. There isn't much space there for a display.

1. Be able to set an offset (sunset +/- nn minutes).

2. A random feature where it would vary the actual on/off times by +/- nn minutes. This is a minor point, because it already vary some because of changing sunset/sunrise times.

3. Automatic adjustment for daylight savings. That may be a problem, because they could change the cutover date, so maybe it's better as it is.
This also allows me to synch the clock twice a year. The timer does not keep perfect time, which is surprising. I would think it could use the 60 Hz from the grid to stay perfectly in time. Maybe an upgraded model could include a received for the time signal from Colorado? :-)

This is one of my favorite gadgets. It used to be very hard to find. I am glad that Amazon is now carrying it. I often give them away as gifts.

07/30/10 Update: Aube makes quite a few models. It took me awhile to figure out the differences and I bought one wrong model. Some of them are designed for more heavy-duty work and controlling motors (033 & 035). I see that they now have a few new models with more programming options and higher wattage ratings. Most of mine are the 034. These are fine for porch lights. Our front porch light is also wired in with the front outside plug so it can control external Christmas lights. The 500 watt max for the 034 is limiting. I may get the new 071 or 072 to replace that one.

Here's a summary of the model from the Aube website (aubetech dot com). Please excuse the (. . .). That's the only way I could find to make a table.

. . Model . . . . . . . . . . . Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Programs
. TI032-3W . . . 500 W @ 120 V, 40 W minimum . . 7 manual
. TI032-3W-5 . .500 W @ 120 V, 40 W minimum . . 7 manual
. TI034-3W . . . 500 W @ 120 V, 40 W minimum . . Sunset/sunrise
. TI070-3W . . . 500 W @ 120 V, 40 W minimum . . 7 manual + Sunset/sunrise
. TI073-3W . . . 500 W @ 120 V, 40 W minimum . . 21 manual + Sunset/sunrise
. TI033 . . . . . . 2400 W max., 1 HP @ 120 V . . . . 7 manual
. TI035 . . . . . . 2400 W max., 1 HP @ 120 V . . . . Sunset/sunrise
. TI071 . . . . . . 1800 W @ 120 V, 0 W minimum . . 7 manual + Sunset/sunrise
. TI072-3W . . . 1800 W @ 120 V, 0 W minimum . . 21 manual + Sunset/sunrise

The 3W means 3-way. The -5 is almond color.

I installed more of these timers after a lighting guy used one doing our landscape lighting. I've used Intermatic wall timers before and had them crap out on me. These switches are reliable, easy to program, and discreet when replacing a normal wall switch.

I used this to replace my ST01C, controlling a whole house fan. The ST01C has a problem that it would randomly reset the clock to 12:00. This is much better with a neutral line. It's also easier to program. Highly recommended.

The timer switch I am talking about is the TI033/U 7-Day Programmable Timer Switch. It requires a neutral wire. Unlike TI032 or TI034, it has NO minimum wattage requirements so that it can be used to control a single CFL light. Also, it can NOT be used to replace a 3-way switch. It can only replace a single-pole switch. If you want to replace a 3-way switch, you need to use a model that has a -3W (3-Way). Remember that all the Aube 3-way timer switches have a minimum wattage requirement of 40W, but they do not require a neutral wire, and they can replace a single-pole switch as well as a 3-way switch. All the Aube timer switches that do not have a minimum wattage requirement requires a neutral wire. BE SURE TO FIND THE CORRECT MODEL FOR YOUR USE BEFORE PURCHASE. My following comment (No. 3) may give you a hint as to know whether or not you have a neutral wire. (BTW: 3-way switches always come in pairs, meaning two switches control the same lights).

I've been using this switch for three weeks. Not a single problem found yet. Once you identify the three wires in your switch box (line, load, and neutral), it is very easy to install and program. A good thing I really like is that you can program it to turn on any time before mid-night and to turn off after mid-night the next day. Some other timers will be messed up if you program it across different days.

Switching it between a regular manual switch and an automatic timer is also convenient by pressing the cover for 3 seconds. If you want to temporarily turn it on or off under automatic mode, you simply hit the cover like a regular switch, and it goes back to automatic mode at the next programmed on or off event. The "on" or "off" will flash if it is at a temporary manual mode, which is the one that I don't like very much.

Wall plate is not included. You need to buy it separately. The timer switch fits into a standard size GFCI opening.

Highly recommend to use a multimeter to check the wires in your switch box if you are not sure which one is which, especially if you have a combination switch box. Wrong wiring can hurt you and damage the switch.

How to find the three required wires in your switch box:

1. Line is the power source (hot wire) from your switch box, normally black color but not always. It will be connected to the black wire of the timer switch so that power will come into your switch from the power source. Line is located "upstream" to your timer switch. Voltage between line and ground wire is 110-120 V whether the switch is on or off. Verify with a multimeter.

2. Load is the wire that allows power to go out of your timer switch to your lights, normally black color but not always. It will be connected to the blue wire of the timer switch, and it will be located "downstream" to your switch. Voltage between load and ground wire is 110-120 V when the switch is on, and is close to zero when the switch is off. Verify with a multimeter.

3. Neutral is the wire that comes out of your lights (not switch) and is located "downstream" to your lights in the return circuit. It will be connected to the white wire of the timer switch. Not every house has a neutral, but if it has, the neutral wire is normally white. If you see two or three white wires connected together by a wire nut, they are very likely neutral wires. Neutral wire is grounded, but it is separate from ground wire in most houses built the last 10-15 years. If you see bare copper wires wrapped together, they are ground wires, not neutral wires. Since neutral wires are grounded, voltage between neutral and ground wires is zero. The only way to make sure your white wires are neutral and are not hot, is to use a multimeter to measure the voltage between the white wires and the ground wires. Of course, you need to know your ground wires are properly grounded by measuring voltage between the ground wires and the ground (should be zero).

Important: NEVER use electrical tape to connect wires in switch box. It is a fire hazard. Code requires proper size wire nuts.
ALWAYS cut off power supply from breaker before working on switch box.

just wanted to emphasize that the thing is BIG, it barely barely fits into a standard box, and really doesn't if the wires coming in to the box take up any real room - we couldn't install the thing without redoing the whole box and drywall around it, which wasn't worth it :(

I was looking for a timer to control my outdoor lighting. I was first drawn to this product because of the name Honeywell, which is well known quality proven name in the PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) business. So if Honeywell could make such a great PLC, then their timers should be par excellence. It turned out that some research after my purchase discovered that Aube was a company all of its own which was acquired by Honeywell in 2008. So this product, given the time frame, may have no Honeywell technology at all.
It turns out that it works great none the less!

NOTE: the key to making this Aube TI033 work in a standard size box with all this wiring is NOT to use the supplied connectors, they may cause the wiring to break and they take up extra space in the already cramped box. Just peal away the ends of the wires to be connected, bind them together by twisting with a pliers and shield the exposed wires with electrical tape - which is flexible and takes up a whole lot less space than connectors!

Pros
-Backed by Honeywell, a well known, well established PLC brand

-The Manual Mode is controlled by the door itself which is also itself a button; push to turn On, push to turn Off. (The On/Off switch shown in one of the pictures behind the door that hides the buttons, turns On/Off the entire device, although it gives the illusion that this is the manual mode switch).

-The door button can be used to switch between manual and automatic mode by just holding down the button for 3 seconds.

-The door button can be used to temporarily override the automatic mode (the follow the programing mode) to turn On or Off the device and this temporary override remains in effect until either the button is pushed again or the next turn on cycle in the automatic program starts.

-To the other reviewers who said this device was too big to fit in a standard size box, I say what standard are you following? I'm using this Aube TI033 to control 3 compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). I took out the triple switch (3 switches in one box), combined the 3 outputs to connect it to the single output of the Aube TI033; then had to run a neutral for the device (that's a lot of wiring in that box!). The box fit, tightly, with all that wiring but it fits well.
In short, take one box device out of box, put another into box.

-Requires a neutral so that in case of shorts, the danger to you would be diminished, the current would prefer the low resistance path back to your panel box and trip your circuit breaker.

-Displays Time (as set by you) in 24hr or 12hr, Day of week, current program running in auto mode and status of output device (On or Off).

-The Aube TI033 has up to 7 programs. Which means 7 times On and 7 times Off. Each of these On and Off times can be set individually to Day (Mon - Sun) or everyday and time of day.

-Has a built in rechargeable battery which can hold the programing data for up to 30 days! More than enough for even a very severe power outage.

-Aube TI033 Can control:
2400Watts (20 Amps @ 120V) (P = IV) (Resistive Loads - incandescent lights, halogen lights, block heater or Inductive Loads - fluorescent lights, compact fluorescent lights, sodium lamps, electronic ballasts)
1 HP (pool filter pumps, water pumps, ceiling or other fans, any motor up to 1 HP)
5 A tungsten (I don't know much about this!)

Cons
-May not actually have Honeywell tech in it.

-Does not have a short timer function in which you can push a button to turn on a device for a set period of time (eg. 5, 10, 15, 30 mins)

- Requires a neutral - depending on the wiring and the output device you are connecting the Aube TI033 to, you may not have a neutral. For instance with my wiring, my lighting was done with a simple circuit design so that the switch only breaks the live wire and the neutral is connected directly to the bulb, so in order to make this device work, I had to run an additional neutral wire inside the switch box. It will NOT work without this neutral.

- the actual wire than the neutral wiring for the device is made with, is a soft metal so that if the connectors supplied are used and turned a little too tightly, it breaks, as happened with mine and I had to remove it and connect it using a pliers and electrical tape.

NOTE: this device will NOT work without this neutral! When I was attempting to use mine with the broken neutral wire, it wouldn't even turn On!

There is another theoretical solution, in a simple circuit design mentioned above, where the neutral is connected to the bulb/device, the other end of the wire at the switch is theoretically a neutral so you could bind the neutral and output wires of the Aube TI033 and connect it to the live going to the device. I didn't test this to see if it will work, that's why I said theoretically... the reason why I didn't and why I don't recommend it is because if there is a fault, the fault current would have to pass through your device. In this case with say a filament bulb, the filament would act a fuse and burn under heavy current causing the fault current afterward to find an alternative route which could be through you!!!

NOTE: It doesn't come with a faceplate, the one I bought was;
Leviton 021-80401-00W Decora 1-Gang Wallplate, White
There was a small color difference but not noticeable from a small distance... say about 8ft away. Fits perfectly with the face of the Aube TI033 and flush with the wall.

This product works as advertised. I checked out the Aube web site, and it provides all the product documents and details to ensure you get the correct one for your application. I really appreciate companies that make their product documents available so you can read the installation guide before your purchase. Returning items is just a big hassle. Read the directions and installation will be as simple as installing a normal light switch. Programming the device is easy and intuitive.

This is a nice unit, with plenty of options, but there are a couple issues; there is no random option for the on/off times, and the display is a little on the small side.

You can program a different on/off time for each day, or you can have the same times for every day of the week. Other timers have a random option which varies the actual time each day +/- a few minutes to make it more natural. At least you can alter each day of the week to get a random pattern that way; just more trouble. The unit installed easily, but it is quite big, so I planned ahead when splicing the wires in the outlet box, to allow plenty of room for the switch. The display can show either 12 hour or 24 hour time, and shows whether it is in auto or manual mode. It also displays if the item being controlled (lights, motor, etc) is on or off. You can easily override the auto settings temporarily with just a quick press of the large faceplate. A nice touch is that the faceplate opens up to allow programming, it locks up in place so it doesn't get in the way when setting the times.

Unit is fairly easy to program. Switch amp rating is enough to power a portable electric heater, or a car headbolt/freeze-plug heater. I wish the display were back lit and the display had larger print -- a flash light is a must when programming. Don't forget to program the day of the week for the "Off" time, too!

When I was considering getting a timer switch like this one, I first considered how much I'd actually save in utilities. Before getting the timer, I would leave the light outside my door on when I leave for work in the morning; otherwise I can't see a thing when I get home at night. So considering I have a 40W bulb and am gone 10 hours a day, I was wasting 0.4 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per day. I pay 20 cents per kWh (I pay for wind energy from my local provider), so that's 8 cents a day. This switch timer costs around $30, so I'll recoup the cost from utilities savings over about a year. Of course, your mileage will vary depending on how bright your lights are, how long you would have left them on without a timer, etc.

Installation is as easy as installing any other switch or dimmer. Unlike normal switches, however, this timer does require access to the neutral (white) wire. This is because the timer itself needs to draw AC power to function. You probably have a wire nut connecting two or more white wires together in your switchbox already. Just loosen that nut, add the white wire from the timer, and reattach the nut. The timer does also come with two small wire nuts for you to connect the line and load wires, which were probably hooked onto screws on your old switch. If so, you'll need to unhook those wires, straighten them out with pliers, and connect them to the new switch timer using the supplied wire nuts. The front face of the timer fits perfectly in a Decora-style switch plate.

The timer is easy to use. If you can program an alarm clock, you can program this timer. You can also press the big switch cover to turn on or off the lights independently of any program you've set. When the switch goes on or off, you'll hear an audible click. There is room for 7 independent on-off programs. Setting the timer to simply turn on and off at a specific time 7 days a week counts as only one program, so 7 is really more than enough.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with this product. Installing it makes for a quick and easy home improvement project that also makes you feel good about doing something positive for the environment.